Since You Never Noticed
by Sevejar Locke
Summary: True love? Who knew it was this hard to let go? That it was this hard to release her grip? She does now and it hurts... YoruichiIchigo


Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach. 

Many thanks go to Antiassassinguy, who allowed me to post this great fic in his place.

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**Since You Never Noticed**

She ran; tears were streaming out the corners of her eyes and she was running. Pathetic, really, when it was considered that she was renown for her speed and her calm tact in battle. Here she was, running through the streets of Seireitei, crying like a teenage girl who had her heart ripped out and stomped on by the man she loved. In her eyes, that was just what happened. Yoruichi never did care about her feelings, no matter what they were, more often than not choosing to follow her head than her heart. Under her breath she was cursing Ichigo with all her being, not giving an opportunity to lay blame on herself for not telling him sooner. It was a habit of hers to sulk whenever she never got what she wanted when she was young, but this time, she felt that she really _did _deserve Ichigo; she really did deserve the bleach-blonde Shinigami. Her cursing continued as she ran through the forest of cherry blossom trees, not as fast as she would in battle, but fast enough so that no one would be able to track her. She never did want to be seen as a weak woman.

_Damn you, Ichigo! Why did it have to be _you _of all people, you bastard! _She cursed in her mind, tears still flowing.

Her heart felt as though it was being squeezed tightly by a cold hand as she heard the name once more in her head, and in vain she tried to be rid of it by shaking her purple-haired head repeatedly. How she wished that Ichigo had noticed her more than just a friend and a teacher. How she had wished that instead of that other girl, Orihime, she would be the one that would be smiling and dancing with him to the music. The petals continued to fall, and using her legs, she leapt from the ground to the branch of a large cherry blossom tree, before leaping onto another, the tears beginning to build up stronger than before. Inside her head, she thought how pathetic she was at the moment; it was the total opposite of what she had aspired to be. She was nothing but an emotional wreck now, and Ichigo was to blame.

_Not really, Yoruichi, _you _were the one that never had the courage to tell him how you felt, _a voice whispered to her.

Ironically, it was her conscience, not that she ever did listen to it. She had heard it before, and never listened to it.

In her hundreds of years of life, not once had she listened to that voice in her head or even acknowledged it, but rather trust her own instincts and skills rather than that voice that took a backseat to her own thoughts this was the first time.

This was the first time that she would have a conversation with her own conscience, and she had always thought of it as strange, after all, everything her friend Urahara Kisuke thought was "cool" had to be weird, from fetishes to loves.

_I know that he knew, he was just being a bastard, he could have told me he wanted Orihime! _She mentally screamed.

_You never gave a chance for him to explain himself, Yoruichi; you just gave actions and hoped that he would notice…_

_He knew and he just tossed me aside! I know how he felt; and I know that he was just trying to ignore me!_

_You don't know that; Ichigo has always been selfless with everyone that he cared about, even with you, Yoruichi…_

_I know that he knew damn it! He knew that I loved him to death but he wouldn't just face it; he was scared of me!_

_Shihouin Yoruichi, you know that he could have possibly not know that you loved him, you were never ever direct…_

That stupid voice in her head was right, she was never direct with him; he was always assumed to have been able to notice her hints of her true feelings; the way they had tripped and landed in the restaurant; the accidental brushing of their hands as they watched the fireworks that Hitsugaya had lit up for the enjoyment of many; the awkward "kissing lesson" in Kisuke's study. After all that and he still did not know; how could Ichigo have not noticed the blush she developed when he held her hand? What about the smirks and the references of the awkward moments they had together? Was her direct flirting with him not enough to have her notice how she truly felt for him? Or how her tongue felt his taste when it entered his innocent and young mouth? He would have to be a fool not to notice her after all those hints that she had left him. But it was Kurosaki Ichigo; the person who had razor wit in battle, but incredibly dense when it came to matters of the heart; such was his density that he never noticed the affections of several other women.

And now to be added to the list of women that he had chosen to ignore was her, the Goddess of Flash, Yoruichi.

She continued to run until she came to a rather big cherry blossom tree, which stood on the top of a rather small hill, and in the distance she could see the household that held the celebrations; the Kuchiki Household. She had never noticed it, but she had run away pretty far from the orange-haired Shinigami, from the truth. Her hand rested on the bark of the cherry blossom tree, and she overlooked the festivities, which were still going on merrily without her.

Even from a distance she could see and hear the fun that they were having without her; and she could imagine the orange-haired Ichigo dancing with Orihime to a fun tune, with the male Shinigami such as Renji cheering them on to kiss. She gripped her hands tightly as she rested against the bark of the cherry blossom tree, sliding down and curling up into a ball, the tears of unconscious rejection flowing freely once more, and the feeling that her heart had become cold was slowly loosening, not that it mattered; she might be getting over him already, but how come it felt that unlike the last few males in her life, this could be one in particular that she could not let go? She gripped her hands tighter, her knuckles turning white like spots on her exotic dark skin. Her teeth were gritted tightly, and her eyes were painfully closed. In her mind she chanted to herself that she would get over this, no matter what. The more she said it, the more that she would know that she could not. Kurosaki Ichigo was different from the others; he was special; special to _her_.

'Yoruichi-san,' her eyes snapped open, and she looked upwards from her curled position, recognizing the voice.

Kurosaki Ichigo stood there, the Captain's robe adorning his features and being blown by the wind, making look as though he was here; the hero that was going to sweep her off her feet and dry her tears. She was not buying any of it.

'What do you want?' she hissed rather harshly; the tone of her voice suggesting bodily harm to him if he went on.

'I came to see if you were all right; you just left the party all of a sudden.' He explained, seemingly oblivious to the fact that she had been in tears over _him _for the last couple of minutes, 'Even Soi Fong-san was surprised by you.'

'What my reasons for leaving are none of your business.' The harsh tone in her voice was dripping with _threat_.

Ichigo noticed the shiver in her hands as they gripped the cloth of her tight black ninja-styled bottoms. He went on.

'Whatever your reasons are for leaving _is _my business! I have never ever seen you like this!' he half-shouted.

Yoruichi looked up at him with rage in her eyes. How _dare _he speak to _her _like that when he was the reason her heart was shattered into a hundreds upon thousand of fine pieces of glass. When _he _was the reason she had cried for the first time in a hundred years. When _he _was the reason that her heart kept beating faster after every smirk and grin he gave.

Anger took over her senses and Yoruichi stood up, gritting her teeth and her eyes wide in fury; Ichigo stayed passive.

'_YOUR_ BUSINESS, ICHIGO? _YOUR_ BUSINESS? WHAT MAKES YOU THINK IN THE NAME OF SOUL SOCIETY WHATEVER IS CRUSHING ME OR EATING ME INSIDE _YOUR _BUSINESS? WHAT MAKES YOU EVEN DARE TO FATHOM THAT WHATEVER IT IS THAT'S MAKING ME SHED GOD FORSAKEN TEARS _YOUR _BUSINESS?' Ichigo could feel her Reiatsu building up at this point, kicking up a small gust to blow against the wind, yet he remained stoic; further enraged by the silence he had, she went on louder, 'IF YOU WANT IT TO BE YOUR BUSINESS SO MUCH, _FINE_! I'LL LET YOU IN ON IT, KUROSAKI ICHIGO!' the silence from him remained, although she could see a hint of a smirk; infuriating her further, 'HERE IT IS, ICHIGO, THE TRUTH IS THAT _I LOVE YOU_! _I LOVE YOU, ICHIGO!' _she then broke down in tears once more, hugging herself, her whole body quivering,and she felt herself being vulnerable, and continue to whisper, 'I love you so much it hurts…'

She could take anything from him now; releasing a Getsuga Tenshou on her would be her ideal death, at the hands of the one that she had loved the most. If he wouldn't, then she hoped that the earth would open up and crush her body.

But there was no feeling of pain that followed, but rather, a feeling of warmth enveloping her body, stopping the cold shiver from continuing. It was a wonderful feeling, to be warm, and this was one of the few times she had felt like this. She was nuzzled onto a white cloth, covering a rather comfortable yet firm chest; it was a very serene picture.

She looked up to meet the eyes of Kurosaki Ichigo, whose arms were wrapped around her, not too tight that she would be squeezed, but strong enough a hold that she felt as though instead of being a prisoner to his arms, it was more like he was the fortress that would expel anything that came to harm her; she felt truly safe with him. Forgetting all her anger, she nuzzled into his chest, tears starting to flow once more, from what, even she did not know. Regret? Despair?

'How long?' she looked down from his superior height, 'How long have you felt this way about me, Yoruichi?'

She noted that he did not add the suffix "-san" to his name; she expected a loss of respect being the reason for it.

'For a long time…' she said, feeling her head being stroked by of his hands, 'Ever since I trained you for that fight against Byakuya back when we were trying to rescue Rukia I had a small crush on you.' She did not know why she saying this, but as much as she wanted to hide it, she knew that she could not, so she continued, 'I was so jealous of Rukia that she had so much of your attention.' She felt the strokes becoming much softer, as though they were requesting her to continue, 'After you told me it was not love, but just deep friendship, there was no measure to how relieved I was.' She closed her eyes and nuzzled in closer to his chest, 'I guess that after a while I began to fall in love with you. Me, the proud Goddess of Flash, Yoruichi. I never thought that I would ever again.' She could have sworn that Ichigo had a small smile on his face as he continued stroking her hair, 'When you asked me out to teach you on how to treat women on dates I was disappointed and happy at the same time. You were asking me to help you impress a woman, and I took that opportunity to try to impress you. But I guess that it didn't work; you chose Orihime after all.'

'How do you know that he woman I chose to be with was Inoue, Yoruichi?' he whispered softly into her ear.

She pulled away from him, hands on his chest, to look up at his soft smiling face, her eyes still filled with tears.

'I-I don't understand…' her voice was breaking up; what was he saying? She went on, 'Wh-What are you saying?'

'Yoruichi…' his tone was barely audible, and she could see warmth in his eyes, her form trembling at what she saw.

He closed the gap between them, and she could feel her knees giving away, yet, miraculously, she could still stand.

'I love you.' Those were the words she heard from him; those were the _**words she **wanted **to hear**_ from his voice.

'Am I…' she hiccupped very slightly as tears of happiness began to flow, 'Am I dreaming this? Ichigo…?'

She saw the warm smile he gave her and slowly, and tenderly, she felt his lips upon hers, rough yet warm.

Around them, the cherry blossoms flew with the wind around the lovers like a thousand omens of love and warmth to come for them. The pink petals blew away, creating an incredible view of flowers; soft and tender at the same time. Ichigo drew her closer to him, and she kindly obliged, adding to the magical scene that was already all around them. After a while, they separated, if only for air, and Yoruichi flashed a smile at Ichigo, who gave a small one in return.

'Did you know all this while, Ichigo?' she questioned, knowing that this was the right moment to ask the young man.

'Urahara-san told me about a month ago about how you felt about me.' Ichigo said, caressing her face slowly.

'So you knew? You knew about how I felt and you ignored me?' she felt her anger rising up again at him.

'Never did.' Ichigo shook his head slowly before locking her eyes with his again, 'I never could go a day without thinking about you, listening to your laugh, watching you smirk at me, and even the time at the springs together…'

She could have sworn that he had turned red at the last part, and she could not help but smirk very slightly.

'What about the dates we went on? The ones that you claimed to be your lessons on women?' she questioned.

'My dad's idea; told me it was a way to find out a bit more about the lady you liked without her being suspicious.'

'Never thought that you would follow Isshin's words, Ichigo.' She allowed herself a laugh to escape her lips.

It was one of the more melodious sounds that he had heard in his lifetime. Yoruichi then felt Ichigo's forehead pressed against hers, the serene sound of silence around them along with the gentle breeze carrying the many cherry blossoms that floated all around them in a calm and gentle motion, showing a gentle picture of the small hill.

After one more quiet moment, Ichigo spoke in his usual tone; face replaced with a pleading yet serious expression.

'Marry me.' He said, the tone of his voice couldn't be quite placed by Yoruichi, but the shock was evident.

'Ichigo?' her eyes were wide, and in comparison, Ichigo's were closed and in thought; his breath even and calm.

He opened them to stare back into her own eyes, and Yoruichi very nearly jumped in joy from his words.

'You're the one that I want to spend the rest of my life with.' He said, looking into her thoughts with his piercing hazel eyes, 'I want to to get married to you on an aisle, and I want Yuzu and Karin to be bickering over being your bridesmaids; I want my dad and that stupid Don Kanonji to shout and holler all they want and drink sake until they get liver failure. I want to dance a lot and I want to get drunk with Renji, and I really… just want to be with _you_, okay?'

Yoruichi closed her eyes in deep thought in front of Ichigo, and after seconds of silence, her lips broke into a smile.

'What kind of woman would I be if I said no?' Yoruichi pulled him in for a long, deep kiss; in which he responded.

It was very different to the awkward kissing lesson Kisuke's study; where he was very apprehensive in using his mouth and his toungue's potential to their full extent; such a boy he was; but right now, he was anything _but _a boy.

He was a young man, and to add to that, he was all hers. Yoruichi had truly never felt so happy in all her life.

They broke awat once more, and Ichigo's eyes came across a rather mischievous smirk on his woman's tan lips.

'Ichigo; I'm all for marrying you, but don't you need a _ring _when you ask me to be your wife?' Yoruichi said coyly.

'Oh yeah, a ring…' Ichigo's face blushed from embarrassment, and Yoruichi could see how much into the shade of red the young man's face had become from his recent discovery, until he leaned in closer, grinning like a maniac, Yoruichi thought that Kisuke's influence upon Ichigo was rather impressive, because this was quite different from the Kurosaki Ichigo she had first met, 'And a ring my bride shall have to compare with those of the other women alive…'

'Or dead; remember that we're in Soul Society, Ichigo.' She reprimanded, wrapping her arms around his neck.

Her eyes met his once more, and she saw the man that she had desired and loved for so long loving her back.

'I-' Yoruichi's sentence was never finished as the all too familiar sound of a powerful battlecry shook the land.

Needless to say, it was Kurosaki Isshin, his Shinigami uniform slightly ragged than it had been than when he came to the party at the Kuchiki household earlier; Ichigo guessed that it was from the affect of Byakuya's rather strong sake.

'Dad…' Ichigo's eyes were wide as for the second time in his life; he was caught in a rather awkward moment.

'MY SON!' Isshin came running at his orange-haired son, tackling him away from Yoruichi and onto the ground and his now-aching bottom. Ichigo also noted that his father had tears at the corner of his eyes, 'You… You have surpassed my every expectation! I am truly proud to have been your Master and role model!' Ichigo's eyebrow's visibly twitched at those last words as Isshin drew himself away, his eyes shining with tears, 'Yoruichi, I give you and my son my blessing for a happy wedding.' The tears were flowing freely now, and Ichigo brought himself back up to full height, slightly irritated by the bearded man's sudden intrusion, 'And since I heard that you two have a rather large problem, I have taken it to myself to solve it!' Ichico was now puzzled _and _irritated, putting his left hand into one of the pockets of his black Shinigami clothes, taking out a small black box and turning to Ichigo, 'Son, I present to you your rings!'

Yoruichi stood visibly shocked as Isshin handed the box to Ichigo, who opened it, and recognized them at first sight.

They were his parent's wedding rings; shining gold unlike any other that he'd seen, with a simple diamond held in.

'What the Hell do you think that you're doing giving me these for! They're yours and mom's!' Ichigo questioned.

'Bah, they're nothing more than small simple shiny gold bands. Besides, I've had them for almost twenty years; it's stupid to hand on to the past. Besides,' Isshin gestured with his head to Yoruichi, whose eyes met Ichigo's, and despite already proclaiming their love for one another, they turned slightly red, 'It's for a Mr and Mrs Kurosaki, son. And I sure as Hell don't have a woman here with me anymore, and without Masaki, they're gathering dust. They're yours.'

Isshin put a hand on his son's shoulder, giving the killer smile that only his wife could love and his son would copy.

'You and Yoruichi are the future Mr and Mrs Kurosaki, kid. It's time for a tradition to start.' He gave a grin.

Ichigo walked past his father and towards Yoruichi, the blush on his face subsiding as did the bronze woman's.

He got on one knee, looking into her eyes and took her right hand slowly and gingerly, as though she was glass.

'You know that I don't like repeating myself, but,' she stroked her hand, 'Yoruichi, will you marry me?'

'Yes…' she said breathlessly as he took a ring, and he went on, slipping it on her ring finger slowly.

Tears began to flow down her cheek from happiness once more, with Ichigo drawing himself up to full height.

She wrapped her arms around him, and in a magical moment, no words were spoken. She drew him closer, her arms wrapped around his neck and making their lpis meet for another time, wih Yoruichi's tears fo happiness flowing freely.

And through it all, they ignored Isshin's incredibly loud weeping in the background, only focusing on each other.


End file.
